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A look at "The Book"

This exquisitely designed, printed, boxed and bound book was never for sale, it came as a gift from BMW AG to the original purchaser of each Z8.

If you bought your car second hand and it didn't come with the book it may well be because the original owner never got it, as surprisingly few people within BMW and their sales team are even aware of it, or that he chose to keep it, so sadly there isn't much you can do about it. I know many have tried, and none have succeeded. I tried to match my old Euro Z8 with it's book, but despite two years of trying was never able to.

In the end I bought this one below from EBay. The seller wouldn't let it go for less than $750, it never reached it's reserve in that sale, he emailed me as highest bidder, and named his price! So if you want one, keep an eye on EBay and be prepared to pay for it. This book was for a European spec Stratus car made in final year of production.

As a collector of rare photographic books I think it is actually a reasonable price for this unique piece. It is one of the very most beautifully made books in my very considerable book collection. Every part of it is sensational, and I expect it to become as collectable as the car itself. I'm confident if you have to buy yours it will a great investment, just like the car itself.

As of August 2016 the entire stock of books that BMW NA had have now been allocated, so pretty much the only way to now find a book is on eBay.

Andrew Macpherson

Expert Z8 Inspections, with full support for both Z8 sale and purchases.

At least BMW didn't do what Mclaren did with the 'Driving Ambition' book and that was to sell it openly to the public but missing the luxury touches that came with the owner's editions. I'm glad I got the chance to purchase one though.

I have made up my own collection of these books simply because I enjoy collecting things. The reason I post this here is that should you become the owner of one of these cars, and have the pink slip to show you are the owner, I will make the book for your car available to you for what I paid for it on EBay. (My EBay average cost for these books is US$800.00 each.)

These are the serial numbers I have in my collection:
60942
61640
61707
62121
78407

Please note that this is not a "for sale" post - these books are not for sale - they are part of my private collection, so unless you become the owner of one of these cars, please don't ask about the books.

Andrew Macpherson

Expert Z8 Inspections, with full support for both Z8 sale and purchases.

Would like book for 61897 too

Original owner of my car had the book, but when traded the car in (for a Gallardo) to Fox Valley Motorsports, he gave it to them. they sold the car to a local BMW dealer in Indy, who didn't have the book (or much else - got most of the stuff from Fox Valley later). Assume the book was sold. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks!

A look at "The Book"

Additional info about the book

This is the response when I asked for the Vin:
"the car in the photo is black with a red interior (obviously the same as my car was)
vin is AH61375
If you know who owns the car now, I'd love to know as this book should go to them.
Cheers,
Paul"

I bought "The Book." I spoke with the owner. He bought his car new but had problems with it and ended up having BMW buy the car back. He has had the book for years but he recently moved and found it while unpacking at his new place. It wasn't cheap and I know the VIN doesn't match my car, but it was the only item my car was missing and my previous Z8 had it, so I was on a quest to get another one.

I received "The Book" on Monday. It was exactly as represented and in perfect condition. It is for car number 61375, which is a black car with a red interior. Hopefully, BMW NA will eventually come up with a book for my car number 60496, but I figured a bird in the hand was worth buying this book. If the owner of this car wants to buy this book if and when I receive my book from BMW NA, I would be happy to do so. Otherwise, if I do get my book, I will first post this book on the forum for sale and then, if it does not sell, put it back on eBay.

In April Bill Stuart will be back from his yearly sabbatical, and he has been incredibly helpful at getting owners books, though you will have to order a VIN plate for it separately, that is an easy part to get from your dealer. Here is Bill's email - [email protected]wna.com

Andrew Macpherson

Expert Z8 Inspections, with full support for both Z8 sale and purchases.

It is the exact same plate that is in your car, thus it is also a spare part you can order it from your BMW dealer. It takes a little while for it to come, and when it does it is a metal peel-off sticker. You just take off the backing, and stick it onto your book.

Andrew Macpherson

Expert Z8 Inspections, with full support for both Z8 sale and purchases.

Rare Z8 Find

On my "quest" for Z8 automobilia I did a rare find: "The book" for the Z8 Indivual.

The book I found is for one of the eleven made Stratus // Crema cars. It is full leather case (black//crema) with a silver "Z8" logo on the front. The leather case is opened like a book

The contents of the book is the same but the glued in polaroid is one of wrapped in car which is definitely not a "Shamu" car. It makes it clear that they were not very specific with pictures in the book.

When I inspected the book I was convinced of the authenticity: no one could remove the drawing on the inner side of the book cover and put it so nicely over the leather cover and stitch it so nicely

I finally e-mail Bill Stuart about a week ago (after having the Z8 since 2005) and received the book today. WOW - it is incredible. My color does match the car so I am all set. The Vin obviously is off, but that's ok as I would not want to alter the book. What a piece of art!

He needs to car to have a registered owner here in the USA to release a book, they are just for BMW NA customers, so I know he is unable to send them overseas - I've already asked him several times :-)

Andrew Macpherson

Expert Z8 Inspections, with full support for both Z8 sale and purchases.

He needs to car to have a registered owner here in the USA to release a book, they are just for BMW NA customers, so I know he is unable to send them overseas - I've already asked him several times :-)

New to this thread.

Not sure how I lucked out. I have a Euro. It was purchased from a German dealer and imported to me thru a Broker/importer. I got it in 2001. I received "the" book from the factory, I think about 2003 or 2004, I did not record the date.

I thought maybe the factory tracked me down thru service records. IDK.

2000 Red over black
heavily modified for performance. Although, not to the level of GM's car

I'm not sure anyone here in the U.S. has had success in obtaining an accurate replica of the VIN sticker. Not to mention, the cheapest "Book" on EBAY is offered at about $2,000.00.

Bill

With access to an original VIN sticker, you could probably make a reasonable reproduction using Photoshop to edit. My recollection is the VIN sticker is printed on a special type of material that would make an exact replica impossible.

Yesterday I got a message via Facebook from the owner of the Book of my Z8. He got the book years back from the first owner and kept it all these years. Because he had pictures of the car parked outside his parents home, he knew the license plate and via Google he found out that I was the owner now. We came to an agreement and soon are car and book united! Sometimes miracles happen!